When Jeongguk finally opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was it being dark outside.

He yawned, wondering for how long he had been asleep. When he blinked a few times more, realisation settled in.

"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck─ ouch!" He bolted off the couch, ran towards his backdoor, opened it, only to stub his toe against the threshold once he wanted to sprint to the water.

After all, Taehyung was waiting for him.

For a really long time, by now.

"I wouldn't blame him if he's already gone.." He muttered through gritted teeth as he held onto his toe. Half limping for a minute, he continued trying to run.

Once he got there, there was no sign of the precious merman.

Sighing, he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

3 AM.

No wonder he wasn't there.

Sitting down on the rock, he rubbed his eyes and stared at the depths right after.

"I'm sorry.." He mumbled, looking down. He felt utterly guilty at the thought of leaving the innocent, happy Taehyung wait for him in avail. He didn't want to think about the merman realising Jeongguk wasn't going to show up, and go home with a sad expression on his face.

"It's okay."

His head rose up, not expecting to hear a voice.

"Taehyung!" Jeongguk smiled widely, watching as the merman swam closer.

Not wanting to wait so long, he jumps in the shallow waters and spreads his arms wide for a hug, shivering at the sudden cold that soaked his clothes wet.

Taehyung's eyes widened slightly at the action, not able to believe Jeongguk wanted his hugs that gladly. 

The merman was shy, Jeongguk could see it on his face. It made him smirk a little, finding it adorable.

"C'mon!" Jeongguk sat down, the water now reaching his shoulders.

"Wait! Don't drown!" Taehyung yelped, seeing Jeongguk disappear downwards.

Taehyung quickly dipped his head under water and pulled the boy back up, making the other laugh loudly.

"Tae, I wasn't drowning, humans can swim, you know! Remember the time I saved your ass?"

A crimson red colour spread all over Taehyung's cheeks, ears and even on his neck.

Oh.

"R─right. I just can't afford to l─lose you.. You're my bestest friend, after all.."

Taehyung fiddled with his fin nervously, hating the way he stuttered and the somewhat bitter feeling he got once the last sentence rolled off his tongue. Not that it was a lie, but something just felt wrong when he said it.

Jeongguk pinched the male's cheek at the tiny, cute confession. His reaction was priceless. Wide eyes stared at him, not sure how to react to it.

Jeongguk stood up and sat down on the rock, playing with his fingers. "Sorry that I kept you waiting for that long.. I had a busy, tiring day."

"It's alright. I don't mind. I kept myself busy playing with the sand."

Jeongguk wondered how someone could be that adorable, admiring him.

Everything was peaceful in that moment.

The sound of calm waves, a cool breeze and the two together like this.

The human flopped backwards on the rock and stared up at the stars, knowing the other was watching him.

"Enough about me.. How was your day? Anything interesting that happened?"

When the silence took a tad bit too long, he chuckled.

"Tae?" Jeongguk asked, still staring up at the night sky.

But the silence took over once again.
The merman didn't answer.

"Taehyung-ah?" The human sat up, thinking the other was joking or something like that.

────🐚────

Panic was written all over Taehyung's face when something pulled him down harshly.

Blinking rapidly trying to process the situation that happened in the blink of an eye, he noticed that he was pulled into the deeper waters, away from Jeongguk's sight.

"How interesting. Never thought you had this in you, Taehyung. Oh, what a shame. What would the others say once they got to hear about this?"

Taehyung froze.

Fear took over his whole body, paralyzing him.

It can't be.

That was Jimin's voice.

He didn't dare to turn around. His mind had gone blank. The only thing that was on repeat in his head, was the thought that he was doomed.

Of course Jimin is going to spill his secrets.

Taehyung is done for.

His lips trembled, his body was shaking.

"Look at you. I'm not even doing anything, yet."

When Jimin appeared in front of him, everything got only worse.

The typical, sickening smile was on full display, now worse and brighter than ever. His silver hair moved with the water when he shook his head, a look on his face that belittled him mockingly.

Jimin knows.

Out of everyone.

Jimin found out.

"Let me explain, your face is even uglier when confusion is written all over it." Jimin tapped his chin, grinning widely.

"Where to start? It's simple. I saw you exiting our world twice. You never noticed me, how dumb of you. I decided to follow you all the way today, and to be honest, you surprised me. Nice human you got there." Jimin nodded upwards, smirking brighter once his eyes followed the direction.

Taehyung only trembled more, his eyebrows deeply furrowed. He couldn't process the shock.

He never says anything to Jimin when he bullies him, he doesn't dare to stand up for himself.

But now Jeongguk is involved, he feels like he has to say something. Anything.

"G─go away J─Jimin.." He stuttered out, it being barely audible.

The elder chuckled, shaking his head.

"That human must be really precious to you, no? You dare to say something back, congratulations!" Fake clapping his hands, the silver tailed smiled at the idea that popped up in his head.

"If he's so precious to you and so special, why don't you just.. introduce me?"

Taehyung felt like his world got completely torn apart by just two mere words, just one question.

His only true source of happiness, Jeongguk, is going to meet his biggest enemy, Jimin.

He has no choice. If Jimin wants something, Jimin gets it.

This couldn't be happening.
Taehyung's expressions turned sour at his raging thoughts.

He could hear Jeongguk call out his name, not knowing where he went.

It only broke his heart more.

His nails were digging deep into his fins, creating some blood bubbles that floated upwards, but he didn't care.

Somewhere, deep within, he wanted the human for himself. No matter how selfish that is, it's true.

But now, that falls apart. He cannot shield him away from Jimin. It felt like Jeongguk fell right through his grasp.

Everything felt like it was falling apart.

"If you're not going to do it, I'll do it myself." Jimin rolled his eyes, swimming up to the surface.

Taehyung shrieked, quickly swimming after Jimin, trying to ignore his fear.

"N─no! Don't!"

────🐚────

"Taehyung! Stop playing, this isn't fun anymore! Are you alright?!" Jeongguk tried again, yet, no answer.

Worried, he glanced around, hoping that he was okay.

When he heard the water move, he looked up with a relieved smile, knowing that Taehyung came back.

Wanting to shoot him a playful glare, his breath hitched when he stared into a pair of unfamiliar, beautiful brown and silverish eyes instead.

He went silent.

The unfamiliar figure swam closer, exposing his head and a part of his upper body completely.

Jeongguk stopped breathing for a moment.

It took only a few seconds to take in the gaping gills on the sides of the merman's neck.

The guy infront of him was genuinely breathtaking.

The silver haired smiled widely, eyes forming into little crescents.

Jeongguk's heart fluttered a little taking in the other's appearance, purely cause of the surprise. From his beautiful silver hair, to his fat, intoxicating lips that were curved up in an addicting smile, his white teeth on display.

"Hi! My name is Jimin!" He extended his hand, pulling himself more on shore.

Jeongguk still didn't know how to respond, he just kept staring.

The way his silver hair was slicked back due to the fact that it was wet made it even harder to breathe for the younger.

"O─oh! My name is Jeongguk.." The human introduced himself quietly, reaching for the other's hand.

Gently shaking them together, Jeongguk listened as the soft, prettily high pitched voice spoke up again.

"C─can I sit next to you?" Jimin asked, not even knowing why he stuttered himself.  Maybe it's because he's doing two strictly forbidden things, maybe it's because he's actually talking to a human for the very first time in his life, or maybe it's the fact that the human he was talking to was absolutely gorgeous.

It was one of them, maybe all at once.

Jeongguk nodded quickly, "Yeah, of course you may." This was the last thing he expected to experience today.

Watching while Jimin pulled himself on the sand, he saw his silver tail following behind. His jaw now dropped, especially when he saw the fins.

They weren't only the most special colour of silver, they also had mysterious looking, leopard-ish dark spots fading into it.

All together, it was just─

Jimin, who saw the expressions the other made, smirked. Not a mean one for once, but one that showed how proud he felt.

"Whoa. Your tail and fins are.. whoa." Jimin surprised himself with a giggle, but decided to ignore it.

"You may touch, if you want to."

As if on instinct, Jeongguk's hand immediately reached for the shiny, diamond-coloured bottom half of Jimin, he wasn't even thinking.

"S─sorry I disappeared like that.." A familiar voice suddenly chimed in, interrupting Jeongguk's actions. He shot his head towards the water, eyes falling upon Taehyung's form.

"Oh! There you are! I thought something happened! You scared me."

Taehyung bit his lip.

Jimin rolled his eyes seeing his rival who decided to show himself at the worst moment. He actually wanted to feel the human stroke his tail. The merman bets it would feel amazing if it's done by him, caught up eyeing Jeongguk who looked magnificent to him.

"Taehyung-ah! Why didn't you tell me about your friend?" Jeongguk smiled, referring to Jimin who peacefully rested next to him.

Taehyung glanced at Jimin before answering. The elder was glaring at him, giving him a look that said 'don't fuck this up or I will kill you with my bare hands.'

Taehyung smiled at Jeongguk, no matter how painful and difficult it was.

"Yeah.. I'm sorry.. Well.. This is Jimin. Jimin, this is Jeongguk, my bestest friend."

Jimin gave a fake smile,
"Awe! I thought I was your best friend!"

Taehyung faked a laugh, ignoring the sting in his chest. "Jiminie, you know what I mean! You're my best merman friend and this is my best human friend! The only one.." He trailed off.

Jeongguk chuckled, looking back at Jimin who quickly got rid of the glare he was shooting at Taehyung.

"Right!"

When Jeongguk and Jimin began chatting, Taehyung felt left out.

Really, really left out.

He was just watching from the water, fingers playing with his fins nervously.

"Jimin-ssi, I love your fins so much! They're so beautiful!"

Taehyung looked down when he saw Jimin sit up to face the human even better, so he could spread his fins widely to show off.

It felt like knifes were continously stabbing his heart, his lungs felt like they got squeezed and the air he was breathing suddenly felt really thick.

His nails kept digging in his fins, suddenly feeling really insecure. Jeongguk never told him his fins were pretty.. He looked down, thoughts and worries roaming around in his head.

Does Jeongguk like Jimin more than him?

What if he doesn't want to see him anymore, now that he has met Jimin?

Is he beautiful, compared to Jimin?

It was all Jimin, Jimin, Jimin, Jimin, making him feel dizzy. He put himself down even more, watching their interaction from the water.

"So how old are you, Jimin-ah?"

He watched as the silver tailed answered,
"I'm nineteen. And you?"

Jeongguk smiled, "I'm eighteen. That means that I'm supposed to call you hyung, it's polite in my world."

Jimin shook his head,
"Jimin-ssi or some other nickname will do."

Taehyung's gaze fell back on Jeongguk, seeing him think.

He felt invisible.
Was he even there, at all?

"How about.. Minnie? Or─"

Jimin giggled.
"─I like that. It's cute."

Jeongguk hummed, chuckling after.
"Minnie it is."

Taehyung, in the meantime, was so confused and hurt he didn't know how to feel or act. He was lost. Was he really that replaceable?

He couldn't blame Jeongguk. The human has no clue of Jimin's intentions towards Taehyung.

Seeing the two males laugh together, Taehyung silently swam a little further away.

"Sleep well, Jeonggukkie.." He whispered, not understanding how his eyes were able to create water. Tiny droplets hit the surface every now and then, creating small crinkles.

Not soon after, he bolted under water to go back home.

Not that anyone noticed, though.